Annotated Bibliography Assignment 01
Nguyen Thu Huong s3705374
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Blog Reflections
Annotated Bibliography
How do the affordances of Instagram affect the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network?
Selected Text 1 – Affordances (word count
Norman, D 1998, The design of everyday things, Basic Book, New York (Sections: Preface vii-xv; Chapter one 1-13; Chapter 4 (constraints) 81-87; (computers) 177-186).
The book covers the psychology of everyday things and makes an argument about the gap between products’s design and users’s experience. Norman explains all fundamental principles that a designer need to consider in the process of designing (such as affordances, constraints, feedback) to shorten the gap. It is clearly explained in the text that the importance of a good conceptual model is critical to a good design.
The main idea expressed is providing information to identify all factors which affect the quality of a design and how designers can use this knowledge to reach the whole new level. The author introduces the strong theoretical point about the struggle of human with everyday objects. His opinion is supported with practical examples from daily life, conveyed in the colloquial writing style, to make a persuasive presentation for his target audiences as people who included in the design process, regardless of which job they have. There’s a misunderstanding that anyone with great intelligence will have no trouble in understanding the way machine works “You would need an engineering degree from MIT to work this,”
… Well, I have an engineering degree from MIT. (Kenneth Olsen has two of them, and he can’t figure out a microwave oven.)”. This also probably the reason people blame themselves when they fail in undertanding a bad design. All case studies are utilized to demonstrate the difficulty in creating a good design and the importance of a good design to daily life. However, the explanations of the psychology behind product interaction are incompletedly organized and dry sometimes, which leave the book a bit confusing and textbook-like.
The findings of this research is especially helpful for consulting as it gives a completely refresh look at design, brings theory to life with a clear explaination about essential factors in design process (affordances, constraints, mapping,…). It especially helpful for my study about how Instagram design affect the way photos and videos are authored, published and distributed in the network as a Networked Media student. With the knowledge gained from the book, it’s not difficult to apply “affordances”, “constraints” and “mapping” in analyzing the design of Instagram or any other similar social media app. We can directly link the theory in DOET to the prompt of this course and explain it properly. In summary, the book is a timeless source for anyone interested in design with practical principles which can easily apply in a contemporary situation.
Selected Text 2 – Network
Lister, Martin, et al. New Media: A Critical Introduction. Routledge, 2009. (Networks, Users and Economics 163-169/ Wiki Worlds and Web 2.0 204-209/The Long Tail 197-200/User-generated content, we are all users now 221-232)
The article is an encyclopedic introduction to the history, culture and key issues of new media. Specifically target at students, the book analyze the term ‘new media’ as well as address all new changes has been made in the constant changing digital world. The authors explore numerous topics such as: new media’s effect on social, cultural and political field, new media’s characteristics, new media technologies and economy,…. This is an excellent contribution to the study of new media and technology.
The authors give students a historical context then concentrate on providing a range of key issues in new media world. New media is gaining huge attention, becoming the target of many researches and analysis and without doubt playing a fundamental role in constructing society. However, media field, like all other fields, is thriving in the emerging process and the research addresses all contested issues which have risen over two decades. In section Networks, Users and Economics (pg 163-169), the article proposes an insight look at the interaction between culture and the rise of web 2.0 and other social networking sites “These forms of advertising are designed to cultivate engagement’, investment in brand identities rather than merely exposure.” Instagram is an excellent example in this case. The affordances and constraints of Instagram’s design create an effective network to authorise and publish photos/videos, utilize the cultural aspect to grow its own community. Instagram has constantly upgraded its app with new features like 24-hour story and album- organizedbut smartly remained the basic design. The reading’s ideas, examples and descriptions can be easily translated and are thematically related to suit Instagram’s affordances, constraints and mapping of media distribution, authorisation and consumption. Web 2.0 and Instagram both enable sharing media files extremely easy with little cost “Web 2.0 innovation because it allows users to more easily upload to a site and because of its flexible potential to link applications,”. Further relevancy occurs when stated; “Anyone can register to track the evolution of a wiki page through its different stages and edits to see how the statements have been arrived at.”, as “a wiki page” can be substituted for “an Instagram account”.
We take them to be those methods and social practices of communication, representation, and expression that have developed using the digital, multimedia, networked computer and the ways that this machine is held to have transformed work in other media: from books to movies, from telephones to television.
Selected Text 3 – Social Media (word count 560)
Siapera, Eugene. Understanding New Media. SAGE Publications, London 2013.(pp.1-16 )
The article covers the essential role of media in the technological revolution of human history. The author makes a strong argument about the importance of understanding media, which is not only equal understanding technology but also understanding the societal changes as media and society are unseperatable. The author specifically explores the term “new media” and compare it with other related terms (digital media, online media) as the media is changing and transforming into a new kind. The leading question about the commitment between society, media and technology is also analyzed to acknowledge the nature of this complex relationship.
The main idea expressed is the fundamental role of new media in society structure and the influence of technology in the process. The world of technology and telecommunication is undergoing a revolution and profound change and the media is strongly influenced by it. The process has been happening for decades. “People tend to overestimate what can be done in one year and to underestimate what can be done in five to ten years.” J. C. R. Licklider, 1965. Applying this theory to life, Instagram make an excellent example as it has grown to become one of the largest social media platform. As a great creation in the age of web 2.0, Instagram gives public the chance to communicate and upload artefacts about their lives extremely easy without costing any fee. Not only allow people to engage with their community but Instagram’s affordances also provide retailers and brands a great place for marketing if they can exploit the cultural constraints effectively. The engaging theoretical point in the article is supported by up-to-date case studies and the work of four great thinkers (McLuhan, Kittler, Stiegler and Castells) to deeply examine the study of media and technology. While McLuhan and Kittler bias technology in the relationship between media-technology and human-society from different standpoints, Stiegler’s research shows the importance of both sides and strongly confirms the irresistibleness of the relationship. However none mention how new media and technology create numerous changes in our modern society. Technology doesn’t determine the society but undoubtedly affect it. And that aspect is covered in Castells’s work. Eugenia Siapera has successfully utilized four important researches to support and strengthen the analysis about new media’s characteristics and the various shifts it constructs across cultural, social, political side in our daily life. Furthermore, the article gives a brilliant fore-sight about the future of networked media world in the accessible writing style. Although the text is rather dated in a constantly changing world, the accuracy and relevance remain true for educational purpose.
The findings of this research is a powerful source to consult as it gives an in-depth look into mediatization and the complex relationship between society and media in the new world. The terminology helps me understand and clarify all the confusion about new media. The analysis of four famous thinkers’s work explores all neccessary aspects, provoke me to think deeply about the dynamic and constantly changing world of new media as well as the coming future. The research also directly related to the prompt of the course as web 2.0 is the outstanding chapter in the revolution of networked media. Furthermore, student can link the knowledge gained from the reading to analyze how Instagram, as an essential communication tool, create affordances, interaction, cultural constraints to communicate with target public in digital world.